A Day in Paradise!

This past Saturday, Zach and I got up at 5am, put our bathing suits on and set out to see the Great Barrier Reef at Lady Musgrave Island. We had made reservations on the 'Spirit of 1770' catamaran that sailed out of the 1770 Harbor. We left the dock at 8am with about 100 other passengers and cruised for an hour and a half to the most gorgeous place we have ever seen!

The outer reef was a huge ring with all the coral inside and in the center of all that was a small island. The water was spectacular aqua and green colors and we could see a lot of the coral underneath the surface. We taxied through the reef until we reached a built-in pontoon which is where we docked for the day.

View as we were getting close to the island

Cruising through the reef

Pontoon where we docked for the day

They had a great setup which allowed the guests to wander from the boat to the pontoon to some smaller boats with glass bottoms for fish viewing. When we first arrived, they served morning tea with biscuits and cakes. We then suited up with our snorkeling gear and got right to seeing the coral and fish. The water was a bit chilly at first, but we quickly got used to it and enjoyed about an hour of snorkeling around. The deckhand guys were feeding a bunch of fish right where we were snorkeling, so they were all coming to the surface to eat. There were these 3 foot long skinny fish that would jump out of the water like rocks skipping. It was pretty cool.

Underwater Camera Shots!

After we snorkeled, we took a smaller boat to the island and had a 45 minute tour. This is where we learned more of the history of the island. We were told that over thousands of years, the island was formed due to coral buildup. The birds began to feed off the fish in that area and dropped seeds from the mainland onto the coral. Soon, Pisonia trees grew and created a small forest on the island. Birds and trees are about the only things that inhabit this island - there are no rodents or reptiles (just turtles in the water that come up to the shore to breed). And the "sand" is just dried pieces of broken coral.

We were strictly instructed not to remove any of the coral from the island or else we would get a hefty fine. But, you can't help it when the coral gets stuck in your toes!

View from the island looking out to the shuttle boat and the pontoon in the distance.

Once we arrived back at the pontoon, we ate a nice salad and seafood lunch while enjoying the gorgeous scenery around us. It was just so cool to be out in the ocean where we couldn't see any other land. It felt like we were just "floating" on the Great Barrier. On our second snorkeling outing, we went to a different area and saw a bunch of turtles and different types of fish. There was this one fish that was leopard print, but we couldn't get a good picture of it.

In the distance you can see the waves breaking onto the reef.

The main snorkeling area

Happy Couple

After we turned in our snorkeling gear, we baked in the sun for a while to warm up. Afternoon tea definitely helped with that, too! Once everyone was accounted for, we began our trek back to the mainland. It was such a relaxing and blissful day, we could have stayed out there forever!

Beautiful sunset back at 1770 when we got off the boat. We didn't want to go home!